Doesn’t Bose Have A Tough Technological Competition In Line

Bose has of course taken a firm ground as a brand. In the realm of mini speakers, be it indoors or outdoors, people trust its audio quality so much so that even a box without specifications suffices as long as it is authentically from the reputed brand Bose. But with recent developments, many genuine techie magazines have pushed Bose products to bottom ratings. Despite the popularity in the market, a good many knowledgeable music enthusiasts think that Bose does not deliver the value for what is paid, that Bose is only hyped through advertisements. Well, this was something that I have been pondering about for quite some time now.

The Basic Setback of Bose’ Fundamental Principle

Bose, as we know, has a reputation for being particularly protective of its brand trademarks and of course patents; establishing a distinctive uniqueness image-wise or tech-wise, perhaps a valid reason why people cultivated a deep trust in the brand. Their originality is strictly maintained and that is something worth trusting the brand for. But how credible is the name of a speaker brand with an audio technology authentic as it may be, but has failed to grow with time or rather, with age.

Technology is advancing and yet Bose seems to be stuck with the once innovative invention that they made a break-though with, decades back. For example, we like their woofer system in principle, the very principle they still hold on to over the years and which ironically keeps them transfixed, gets markedly overdriven into distortion too easily. And talk of design flaws that don’t reach modern standards, they may sound fairly good but in a generation so concerned with energy efficiency, Bose speakers need huge amp as compared to innovative speakers, many of which you cannot question the audio quality as well.

An Insight of The Bose Corporation

Considering the price or not Bose audio quality as of present standards is very average. While Bose has taken up its reigns a long time back and triumphed for a good many years, it does seem like it is still riding on the laurels that they got decades back. While they focus on marketing strategies which have flagged off highly successful, many audio engineers rightly talk of how the use of technology in Bose speakers is going downhill with each speaker model.

The serious speaker people in fact harbor a healthy disdain for Bose and they claim to be aware of how Bose violates all kinds of conventions in the making. Audio engineers know, as well as many knowledgeable techies increasingly aware, that Bose speakers don’t perform well enough according to the traditional criteria that speaker engineers consider important. Bose speakers generally don’t provide audio drivers powerful enough which cuts down the rich bass we expect in almost all of their speakers. Analytically this is perhaps why Bose doesn’t compare well with many of the high end brands like Infinity, PSB, Mirage etc. Well these brands may sound relatively unknown and unheard of, they don’t make garbage audio systems at all.

What actually happens is that Bose quietly raises its own platform by its advertising techniques, controlled environment dealers use while selling and high pricing that intuitively make us expect high end quality. A good many of us have been disappointed by the lack of a thunderous bass or rather a sound audio for its grand pricing. But the company is essentially tactful about how they display their products. Bose’s dealers avoid availing the customers with the option of comparing its speakers with other speaker models.

The company also effectively obscures the inadequacy of speaker-features by discreetly not featuring the specifications on the package box of their speakers.

Consumerism In Effect

Evidently Bose is marketing savvy much more than being techno savvy. Their advertising techniques are worth noting. They have what it really takes to sell innovative, next-generation products and services in today’s hyper competitive marketplace. What bothers other speaker designers, and rightly so in this scenario is that rather than designing cutting-edge speakers, Bose has focused more on publicizing and selling their products.

For a supposedly technology driven company, we expect it to build according to an engineer’s point of view, and as such present a quality make.

Rather than invest huge amounts on celebrity endorsements and extol on the virtues of the personality’s popularity, we expect them to actually focus on the speaker quality.

We do not expect the company to monitor the result of their ads but rather, don’t we expect the brand to key each speaker unit with special codes to monitor its proper functionality? And consequently find out ways to improve their speakers for the next model construct.

We would not expect a high end brand of its order to recycle old ideas but rather move forward with new and innovative ideas.

Their advertising techniques incorporate stories that induce customers to embrace, and include simplified sound wave diagrams that illustrate their speakers; which psychologically makes viewers feel smart. Wooing techniques of advertising I guess.

So, by now, it is fair to say that Bose focuses not on the technological quality that should matter more but on the aesthetic quality that fits the customer’s point of view. Well, it is indeed very good that Bose is committed to its customers; that every customer gets what they think they want, which can again be cleverly interpreted as ‘what they need’. Designed especially for each one’s style; rather a flattering strategy. But come to think of it, it sounds more like seduction; you get what you want or seemingly what you think you want, but technically may have no quality value. Hoodwinked!

Conclusion

While it is excellent that the company aims at fulfilling its customer’s desires, where does its quality stand? I am not referring in the least (let me get this cleared) that other brands don’t do the “aiming at fulfilling their customers desires”. But at the pricing range of Bose, a good many of the brands would probably offer more value; better audio and features specifications.

It may be worth mentioning here Anker and UE Portable speakers that have a huge difference in pricing with Bose and yet their audio quality as well as features is significantly good.